


Fable

by kangeiko



Category: Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Poetry, Yuletide, Yuletide 2008
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-25
Updated: 2008-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-11 02:25:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/107338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kangeiko/pseuds/kangeiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Men talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fable

**Author's Note:**

> For WhiteCat for Yuletide 2008. Many thanks to mjules and Snow for a fab beta!

Men talk:  
they're full of speeches and rhetoric and surely you see,  
of this and that and don't you agree  
and wouldn't you say, and my, isn't it lovely today.  
Of: you look so pretty, my sweetheart, my cutie,  
oh what a nice dress, and my, what big eyes you have,  
yes. Of: marry me now and be my bride,  
let me lift you and carry you inside;  
of castles and kings and beautiful, wondrous things,  
of how your hair would be so pretty to wear  
loosened down the tower side - oh,  
this endless torment I cannot bear;  
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.

 

Men talk:  
they yap and they burble as man or as turtle  
as fox or as hen, their tongues looser now than then.  
They caution and safeguard, they lock up the rearguard  
and fix up the locks 'twixt, 'round and across  
their daughter's modesty; and, I mean honestly,  
did you notice that it's always the girls sitting still  
while the men batter and kill dragons and goblins  
and ride triumphantly back, dragon hide shiny and black  
'cross the hide of their steed; then it's:  
storytellers, quick, a song for my deed!  
And the whole world's to hear it, chapter and verse:  
the careful retrieval of princess, fortune and nurse.

 

Men talk:  
they lecture and educate and their daughters elucidate  
and it's never enough to kill the beast on the bluff  
but it's always required to have a bard be inspired  
to sing endless songs of their quests  
and the riddles and mazes and tests  
that all took to find and to win - like a carnival stall -  
the hand of their bride, the brightest beauty of all.  
She's not always a princess - should we be grateful? -  
but always a beauty and her parents forgetful  
and a fairy forgotten or a boon misbegotten.  
Look, there she is still, asleep in the lull -  
Or maybe it's just that the prince is so dull.

 

Men talk:  
of their conquests and riots and battles and pirates -  
yes, pirates, these days - and also the fire  
they fought on the road, and isn't it nice that their salary's higher  
and the hours they work seem to end with the day  
and there's never a need to say, I'm done,  
I'm finished, I'm going to bed, or the pub for a pint; mate  
I better get home before it gets late,  
'cause the missus is cooking and you know how she gets.  
And then on the weekend: its curry, a pint,  
a couple of bets down the dogtrack or races.  
That's all there is to it, there's no fucking catch:  
Prince Charming is old now and married, he ain't chasing snatch.

 

Men talk...

 

Men talk

 

 

*

fin

**Author's Note:**

> As you've no doubt gathered already, this is a riff on "Men Talk", by Liz Lochhead.


End file.
